URGENT ACTION APPEAL

14 June 2002

Fear for safety

COLOMBIA
Members of the Corporacion Colectivo de Abogados 'Jose Alvear Restrepo' (Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective)

Amnesty International is seriously concerned for the safety of members of the Corporacion Colectivo de Abogados 'Jose Alvear Restrepo', (Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective), following the public distribution of a poster calling for the 'total annihilation' 'aniquilamiento institucional' of the lawyers' association.

On 21 May, the poster was distributed around several universities in the country and at the Attorney General's office in Bogota. It accused the association of being the 'judicial arm','brazo juridico', of the >Ejercito de Liberacion Nacional (ELN), National Liberation Army. The poster also called for solidarity with army officials who are involved in cases of human rights abuses presented by the lawyers' association. To be labelled so explicitly as guerrilla collaborators is a major threat to the members of the association, as accusations of this kind are usually followed by serious human rights violations such as abductions, murders or torture.

In the past few months, several members of the Colectivo de Abogados, have also reportedly been kept under surveillance and have received anonymous phone calls. Members of the association have also received death threats on several occasions in the past.

(UA 88/01 issued 6 April 2001 and UA 80/02 issued 15 March 2002).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Lawyers from the Corporacion Colectivo de Abogados 'Jose Alvear Restrepo', are involved in bringing cases to trial which implicate army officials, who have taken part by action or omission in serious human rights violations such as the Maparipan massacre and the attempted killing of trade unionist Wilson Borja Diaz (UA 387/00 issued 21 December 2000).

Many human rights lawyers have been killed in Colombia, and others have been forced into exile in fear for their lives. Human rights defenders who have sought to bring to justice those responsible for human rights violations, and sought to expose the links between the security forces and paramilitary groups, have frequently suffered human rights violations themselves.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:

- urging the Colombian authorities to take immediate and effective action to protect members of the corporacion Colectivo de Abogados 'Jose Alvear Restrepo' (Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective);

- asking them to take immediate and effective action to ensure that members of the association can carry out their legitimate and important work for the defence of human rights in safety;

- urging the government to adhere to the principles of the Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1998;

- reminding the authorities that in recognition of the important role human rights defenders play in promoting human rights throughout the Americas, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States adopted on 4 June resolution AG/RES. 1842 (XXXII-O/02) 'Human Rights Defenders in the Americas: Support for the individuals, groups, and organisations of civil society working to promote and protect human rights in the Americas', urging states to take several steps to promote end protect the work of human rights activists.

APPEALS TO:
President of Colombia:
Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana
Presidente de la Republica
Palacio de Narino
Carrera 8 No. 7-26
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Telegram: President Pastrana , Bogota, Colombia Telex: 396 44281 PALP CO Fax: 011 57 1 566 2071 Salutation: Dear President Pastrana / Excelentisimo Sr. Presidente Pastrana

Attorney General:
Dr. Luis Camilo Osorio,
Fiscal General de la Nacion
Fiscalia General de la Nacion
Apartado Aereo 29855
Diagonal 22B 52-01 (Ciudad Salite),
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia
Telegram: Fiscal General, Bogota, Colombia Fax: 011 57 1 570 2022/2003 (if someone answers say 'me da tono de fax por favor')
Salutation: Dear Dr. Osorio / Estimado Dr. Osorio

Minister of the Interior;
Dr. Armando Estrada Villa,
Ministro del Interior
Ministerio del Interior
Palacio Echeverry
Carrera 8a, No.8-09, piso 2o.
Santafe de Bogota,Colombia
Telegram: Ministro Interior, Bogota, Colombia Fax: 011 57 1 562 5298 (if someone answers say 'me da tono de fax por favor')
Salutation: Dear Sir / Sr. Ministro

COPIES TO:
Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers' Collective:
Corporacion Colectivo de Abogados 'Jose Alvear Restrepo'
Apartado Aereo 33035
Santafe de Bogota, Colombia

Ambassador Luis Alberto Moreno
Embassy of Colombia
2118 Leroy Pl. NW
Washington DC 20008
Fax: 1 202 232 8643

Please send appeals immediately. Check with the Colorado office between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm, Mountain time, weekdays only, if sending appeals after July 26, 2002.